Thank you very much for the information. Would you mind giving me model numbers for the two screen mounts you mention?

I reeeeeally want to avoid having a massive 120 screen permanently on display in my den. And since I just figured out how I might get that screen up to 137 inches, I don't want that size screen always around, either. But I also don't want to spend a lot of money on this and have it be just short of excellent.

Oh grumble, now I'm back to researching what I thought I had decided on. :-(

Edit: I just realized you said "get a tension screen IF you do go the roll down avenue" and not "INSTEAD OF" a roll down. How does a tensioned roll-down screen work? Can you point me to a make/model of this?

Well, I think you might have to go the electric route if you desire tension. If you went roll down I think some people create their own tension somehow. But, IMO, a tension electric screen is just too expensive. The Elite, Da Lite, and Mustang are the brands you want to look at.

Are you throwing a fixed frame out the window? It's pretty unanimous that a fixed frame will provide the best picture experience.

Well, I think you might have to go the electric route if you desire tension. If you went roll down I think some people create their own tension somehow. But, IMO, a tension electric screen is just too expensive. The Elite, Da Lite, and Mustang are the brands you want to look at.

Jargon check: When I say "roll down" I mean "mounts to the ceiling and rolls down with a switch, i.e. with electricity". Is that different from what you mean by "electric route"?

Was just looking at the Elite Screens CineTension2 when you posted. Yeah, I'm not so sure $1200 for a screen is something that's going to be happening. :-(

Quote:

Are you throwing a fixed frame out the window? It's pretty unanimous that a fixed frame will provide the best picture experience.

I just don't see how I can do what I want that way. I really only want the projector for movies, concert films, etc.--stuff that we'll sit and watch without doing other stuff at the same time, look tooling around on the laptop. I don't want to be stuck watching e.g. Food Network on it, too. For that I want the regular old LCD TV.

Jargon check: When I say "roll down" I mean "mounts to the ceiling and rolls down with a switch, i.e. with electricity". Is that different from what you mean by "electric route"?

Was just looking at the Elite Screens CineTension2 when you posted. Yeah, I'm not so sure $1200 for a screen is something that's going to be happening. :-(

I just don't see how I can do what I want that way. I really only want the projector for movies, concert films, etc.--stuff that we'll sit and watch without doing other stuff at the same time, look tooling around on the laptop. I don't want to be stuck watching e.g. Food Network on it, too. For that I want the regular old LCD TV.

No, we're talking about the same thing. Some buy the manual pull down screen. Yes, some of those screen can be darn expensive.

No way you can mount the TV on a different wall? For reference, I paid $40 for my screen material, and all that's left to buy is some L and T brackets, the wood, and black velvet. It should all come to around $85.

I'm about to pull the trigger on a W1080ST myself. I did the research on the projector itself months ago and now have the funds for the full monty. I'm surprised that more short-throw 1080p competition hasn't appeared yet, but if it's still great, then it's still great. [Edit: Wait, is the W1500 newer?] [Second edit: Conflicting information on whether or not W1500 is really a short-throw. Hmm.]

A few questions about the gear associated with:

Is there a mount that is generally recommended by all? I'm looking for one that can be adjusted up and down if necessary.

Screen: I'm interested in having a ceiling-mounted roll-down screen that would be far enough away from the wall to allow a 60" LCD TV to remain behind it for regular old TV watching. I'm looking at 120". Any recommendations? Are these screens heavy enough that they will not move if there is a ceiling fan in the room disturbing the air flow?

Recommendations on 3D glasses that can fit over regular eyeglasses for blind people like myself?

Thank you forum people.

The W1500 is in fact newer and has more features with the one huge disadvantage being lag and some performance bugs with FI. But if 2D to 3D conversion, frame interpolation, wireless HDMI, and other added bonus features are worth those tradeoffs, and paying a few hundred more then go for it. It is not short throw but has a new "big zoom" feature which allows it to be somewhere between the 1070 and 1080. With the 1080ST I get a 100" from around 5 ft but with the W1500 it would be closer to 8 ft

I've also read on this forum that there is a rumored short throw version of the W1500 in the works, a successor to the 1080ST with more of those features, so keep that in mind

As for your celing fan question, I can't help you there as I removed my ceiling fan before hanging my projector. And finally, for 3D glasses if you wear prescription glasses you will just have to try several out and see which are the most comfortable, keeping in mind that the lighter the glasses the better, excepting the bulky 3DTV corps glasses which do fit very well over glasses. Another recommendation would be the $12 no name 144hz lightweight glasses on ebay are also a good fit. They are the cheapest 144hz 3D glasses available and have excellent performance. Hope that helps

Hey everyone, I've had my W1080ST for a few months now but haven't got too much use out of it yet. I'm finally using it more often and I'm having one issue with HDMI signal recognition that I can't quite figure out. I'm still running 1.02 for a driver the issue is that when I plug in the projector to a PC or laptop it constantly says no signal until I remove the HDMI connection from the projector and plug it back in. I figured maybe running the laptop to it may have had something to do with it but it's still the case when constantly connected. I'm running cables as the following: computer -> receiver -> projector. I was wondering if anyone else is having any similar issues or has had them in the past. I can't seem to find any posts regarding the same issue.

TLDR

Computer -> Receiver -> Projector

Does not recognize the signal until I unplug and replug in the HDMI cable on the projector.

Hey everyone, I've had my W1080ST for a few months now but haven't got too much use out of it yet. I'm finally using it more often and I'm having one issue with HDMI signal recognition that I can't quite figure out. I'm still running 1.02 for a driver the issue is that when I plug in the projector to a PC or laptop it constantly says no signal until I remove the HDMI connection from the projector and plug it back in. I figured maybe running the laptop to it may have had something to do with it but it's still the case when constantly connected. I'm running cables as the following: computer -> receiver -> projector. I was wondering if anyone else is having any similar issues or has had them in the past. I can't seem to find any posts regarding the same issue.

TLDR
Computer -> Receiver -> Projector
Does not recognize the signal until I unplug and replug in the HDMI cable on the projector.

My hunch is that it's due to the 1.02 firmware. I also have 1.02 and on random occurences one of the HDMI inputs won't detect a signal. HDMI handshake issues were a widespread issue with the early firmware and appears to have been fixed with 1.05. If I switch the cable to the 2nd input, it fires up, and then maybe the 1st will work again in a minute. I tested out a 1080ST last fall from Best Buy and it had the 1.05. I distinctly remember the projector picking up sources much faster. Call Benq and get a RMA to have the firmware updated. You only have to pay for shipping going there.

Thanks, just read through it and seems simple enough. I saw firmware updates for it before where it was pretty similar but saw some people bricking their projectors and wasn't sure whether these were officially supported by BenQ (on the W1080ST that is) so decided to wait before doing anything.

I'm toying with the idea of updating my firmware, but nervous about bricking it. I wish someone would do a tutorial youtube video on this to walk through the steps. I have the 1.02 and the HDMI source searching takes a bit. Otherwise I'd have to send it to California.

Thanks, just read through it and seems simple enough. I saw firmware updates for it before where it was pretty similar but saw some people bricking their projectors and wasn't sure whether these were officially supported by BenQ (on the W1080ST that is) so decided to wait before doing anything.

Quote:

Originally Posted by butie120

I'm toying with the idea of updating my firmware, but nervous about bricking it. I wish someone would do a tutorial youtube video on this to walk through the steps. I have the 1.02 and the HDMI source searching takes a bit. Otherwise I'd have to send it to California.

I've been waiting a long time to update and was also hoping someone would post a video, BUT after looking at the instructions in the link I finally figured I would just do it! So the process went smooth and I am now on the latest firmware! All it took was someone to finally put the instructions in laymen's terms and in a simple and clean layout, to get me to finally update. Did it today no problems, and I now realize it really is almost foolproof as long as you take your time and look over things twice before you start the download

I love having the extra 3D modes, and the source switching, while not as fast/improved as I thought it would be, is still quite a bit faster!

I've been waiting a long time to update and was also hoping someone would post a video, BUT after looking at the instructions in the link I finally figured I would just do it! So the process went smooth and I am now on the latest firmware! All it took was someone to finally put the instructions in laymen's terms and in a simple and clean layout, to get me to finally update. Did it today no problems, and I now realize it really is almost foolproof as long as you take your time and look over things twice before you start the download

I love having the extra 3D modes, and the source switching, while not as fast/improved as I thought it would be, is still quite a bit faster!

I'm gonna give it a go. However, I have a question for you. I tried downloading the parameters text file, but it doesn't open a window to download it like the other files. It just opens right in the web browser. How do I get it to download to the folder I created?

I'm gonna give it a go. However, I have a question for you. I tried downloading the parameters text file, but it doesn't open a window to download it like the other files. It just opens right in the web browser. How do I get it to download to the folder I created?

Thats fine. If it opens there just see if you can click File then Save As, then save in your 1080 Firmware folder you created as a text file and go from there

Thats fine. If it opens in notepad just click File then Save As, then save in your 1080 Firmware folder you created and go from there

That's my question. It doesn't even open in notepad or a program. It opens in the web browser (mozilla firefox). Can I copy and paste the entire text in the browser, put it in notepad, and then save it to the folder? I just want to make sure it all goes smoothly.

That's my question. It doesn't even open in notepad or a program. It opens in the web browser (mozilla firefox). Can I copy and paste the entire text in the browser, put it in notepad, and then save it to the folder? I just want to make sure it all goes smoothly.

Use another browser like internet explorer so that it will download normally then bc it sounds like a settings issue in mozilla. I would rather do that then copy and paste and save it in notepad-although that'd probly work fine too

But to be honest, the preset Cinema mode settings are already pretty good and many have decided to simply use these (after setting Lamp Power to Economic and possibly BrilliantColor to Off).

As others have noted, everyone's setup is a little different so your calibration needs to be different too, but it also depends on how picky you are. Personally I have stuck with the Wither's settings as I found the picture to be a little more natural with these compared to Sound & Vision's settings or the preset Cinema mode. To each his own .

Has anybody purchased a refurbished 1080st? And if so, how is the projector doing?

I purchased a refurb from Projector Supercenter about a month ago. When the first one came the HDMI inputs would not take a signal. So, I sent it back and within two days they sent me another refurb. This one is working like a charm. It did come with firmware 1.02 but I updated it to 1.05 myself and it's been working great. Cosmetically there are absolutely no scratches to speak of. I paid $799 so I think I got a pretty good deal on it. I would pull the trigger on a refurb but ONLY if it's from an authorized reseller. These refurbs also carry the same warranty as brand new so you can't go wrong.

Set up my 1080 with a temporary 106 inch blackout cloth screen. The image was something to behold. Cost of projector $899, cost of screen and materials used to build $13.71. Seeing the look on your families face,Priceless.

Nearly all men can stand adversity , but if you want to test a man's character , give him power.Abraham Lincoln.

Okay looking for some help from my fellow 1080st owners. So after testing out my 106 inch BOC screen i've decided to go with an larger screen. Problem projector mount. Floor to ceiling is only 7' 6" , so what mount will work for me. I plan on a 120" or 130 screen size and do not want the screen sitting on the floor. The center of the lens needs to be three inches from the top of the screen, right? So what low profile mount will work for me? I hear the Chief RPMAU is a very good mount, but will it work for my application?

So any input would greatly help. Like what mount are you using? Do you like it? Pro and cons.

Nearly all men can stand adversity , but if you want to test a man's character , give him power.Abraham Lincoln.

Okay looking for some help from my fellow 1080st owners. So after testing out my 106 inch BOC screen i've decided to go with an larger screen. Problem projector mount. Floor to ceiling is only 7' 6" , so what mount will work for me. I plan on a 120" or 130 screen size and do not want the screen sitting on the floor. The center of the lens needs to be three inches from the top of the screen, right? So what low profile mount will work for me? I hear the Chief RPMAU is a very good mount, but will it work for my application?

So any input would greatly help. Like what mount are you using? Do you like it? Pro and cons.

I have the Chief RPAU and it works great. I only have 7 foot ceilings and I believe the border, not the screen, is around 3 inches away from the ceiling. I would have to measure it though to be exact on that. The Chief mounts are built like a rock so I wouldn't hesitate to purchase.

I have the Chief RPAU and it works great. I only have 7 foot ceilings and I believe the border, not the screen, is around 3 inches away from the ceiling. I would have to measure it though to be exact on that. The Chief mounts are built like a rock so I wouldn't hesitate to purchase.

What size screen do you have,what kind is it, and how far is it from the floor?

Nearly all men can stand adversity , but if you want to test a man's character , give him power.Abraham Lincoln.